TLINC Highlighted on Radio Program on Linking Educators Online

Elizabeth Foster, Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives at NCTAF, and Lisa Schmucki, founder and CEO of edWeb.net, appeared on Education Talk Radio in mid-December to discuss technology enabled collaboration. With host Larry Jacobs, the pair shared best practices and lessons learned throughout a multi-year partnership between NCTAF’s and edWeb.net to link student teachers, mentor teachers, and faculty in both face-to-face meetings and online as part of the TLINC (Teachers Learning in Networked Communities) program.

The TLINC program began as a result of NCTAF research which showed that teacher turnover results from teacher preparation that remains unaligned with the realities of the 21st century classroom. Ms. Foster explained: “We want to build this movement to encourage collaboration in teacher preparation; it is important to support education professors to use technology so they can support new teachers in training. In teaching there are often few opportunities to innovate and grow, so using technology to enhance teaching practices can lead to continuing growth over an educator’s entire career”. Ms. Schmucki pointed out that online communities provide a way for schools of education to remain engaged with their alumni after graduation, linking cohorts in communities despite geographic distances. Finally, online communities of educators help combat the isolation felt by many novice teachers and provide educators at any stage of their career with access to mentoring, professional development, and resources to improve their practice with the aim of reducing teacher churn in schools over time.

To listen to the archived recording of today’s radio broadcast, click here.

To learn more about Teachers Learning in Networked Communities (TLINC), click here.